Can I Fix This Discontinued Circuit Board?
This is a control board for a 25 year old Amana heat pump that has accumulated some water damage over the years and met a spectacular end. Watch to find out if I can fix it!
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I was expecting a LOT more interaction with this vid. Got some warm pretzels on a rainy day + watching your videos 🙂
When you have a lot of contamination and/or corrosion that appears to be associated with water damage, the first thing to try for cleaning is water. Warm tap water with a little detergent can be a great improver. A soft brush can help. HOWEVER – not all parts are washable with water or any other solvent. The big relay looks like it was originally washable but the vent nipple has been clipped off (many relays are made like this). That would pose a problem, though when a track associated with the contacts of a relay has been evaporated, the relay contacts are suspect anyway.
After washing with water, the board should be thoroughly rinsed with tap water, then deionized water and allowed to dry. Blowing off the residual water with clean, oil-free compressed air is very helpful. Single sided boards are a bit of a pain because the holes will fill with water that gets held there by capillary action. Again compressed air is useful.
The circuitry on this board is probably all quite low impedance. On boards with high impedance circuitry, a thorough wash with water can be the only thing that will save them. The deionized water rinse, maybe more than one, is essential.
Isopropanol is sufficiently polar to remove a lot of ionic contaminants fairly well.